UFC welterweight Jorge Masvidal scoffed at Jake Paul’s offer of over $5 million dollars to fight him in a boxing ring, calling it “chump change” compared to what he makes in the Octagon.
Fuck I’m utterly bored pic.twitter.com/VetvSPYh9a
— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) December 19, 2021
Following his show-stopping finish of former UFC champion Tyron Woodley, Jake Paul took to the microphone to throw down the gauntlet at the feet of Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, and Jorge Masvidal. After dismissing the challenge over the weekend, Masvidal followed up on Twitter after Paul made further comments.
After initially calling him out at Saturday’s post-fight press conference, Paul spoke on his older brother Logan’s podcast to say that he would offer $5 million plus a cut of the pay-per-view revenue for Masvidal to take the fight. The incentive comes on the heels of his comments where Paul told Masvidal and the other fighters “Daddy Dana needs to let you out of your contract,” A reference to the fact that UFC President Dana White is not a fan of cross promotion and was unlikely to let his biggest stars be unavailable for several months to partake in such a bout.
If the ufc still says no because the money is still too low then come over to the ufc, sign a 1 fight deal and we can stipulate I can only box in the cage. If i do anything other than that I will forfeit my purse to you. Come on over and get paid and laid out.
— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) December 21, 2021
Masvidal took to Twitter to follow up on his video response to dismiss Paul once again, stating:
“1. The ufc isn’t gonna let me go for chump change.
2. Make that 20 guaranteed plus Ppv and I’m sure the ufc will be ok with it as long as I break them off their fee and then I’ll gladly break your face.If the ufc still says no because the money is still too low then come over to the ufc, sign a 1 fight deal and we can stipulate I can only box in the cage. If i do anything other than that I will forfeit my purse to you. Come on over and get paid and laid out.”
Though he is coming off back-to-back losses and has been rather inactive over the past two years, there is no denying that Masvidal is one of the biggest draws in the company. After winning the title of “BMF” in 2019, Masvidal’s drawing ability was on full display as he headlined the first event on the highly promoted “Fight Island” in 2020 where his numbers outperformed those of the champion Kamaru Usman. While Masvidal’s total earnings per event has not been disclosed, it is estimated that he earns more than what Paul is offering after all bonuses are tabulated.
Though all pundits cast doubt on the notion that Paul would ever actually step foot into the cage, he did say last week that he fully expected to take an MMA bout in the future and that he would train with former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov for his debut.
Plans for Jake Paul’s next bout are unknown as “The Problem Child” said following his victory over Woodley over the weekend that he planned to take a long vacation. Masvidal is currently rehabilitating an injury that pulled him out of a planned bout against Leon Edwards earlier this month.
